Working 24 Hours at the Best BBQ in the World | Bon Appetit

what makes great barbecue I mean really great barbecue the kind you would travel hundreds or even thousands of miles for the kind you would wait six hours in line for I'm at Franklin barbecue in Austin Texas to find out what it takes to make my favorite barbecue so it's 559 at Franklin barbecue my shift starts in one minute I don't know I'm looking forward to you know I've been here a few times I've had the food I've waited in line what time did you get here damn they open it 11 o'clock yes so you have to sit out here for five hours yeah what are you gonna do we just converse the longest work they have ever had was about 75 76 hours straight straight straight I think the key to any good barbecue guy is an espresso machine and we made me one that yeah are you better at making brisket or make espresso probably made more expressive thank you um everyone gets a locker forget a locker we'll have to talk to Benjy and get you a locker maybe the one at the very bottom yeah the last one nice and it's official so how many people these ingles heard today probably hit about 800 portions probably 400 physical bodies there are very few restaurants in the world that have the level of expectation that you guys have with your barbecue top with as many variables as we're dealing with it's really nerve-racking barbecue is essentially taking tough cuts of meat and through the alchemy of wood fire smoke time and most importantly passion turning that into something otherworldly it's much harder than it looks little sauce oh gosh sorry it's alright start over like that this way smooth it out and then flip it up on that edge so what you want it to be upside down yeah okay do you hold your breath when you go in yeah I do okay why didn't you tell me that first no B stands for brisket okay C already got that seal quick I am so we've got 49 briskets to sell to the one camp so yeah like this so I am gonna start taking meat orders from everyone new pounds of brisket announcer Bristol two pounds you get 16 guys coming in Wow maybe like 10 racks kid right okay let's go ahead they look cozy hey guys doing we have brisket got a pork ribs pulled pork smoked turkey beef ribs today Saturday's only and then we also have sausage you know people go to restaurants for all kinds of reasons but people plan trip to come in and standing in line for like 6 hours we drove from Oklahoma if you're from Oklahoma is from Australia that's crazy good times you're Virginia I'm from Brooklyn how many times have you been here 20 30 on 23rd that's a Franklin barbecue shirt it's one of the originals oh wow that's a fan right there I mean it's just incredible the party that sets out I think every single person here is probably on their sixth beer and I haven't had any just probably a good thing so you guys do the last ones in line you're the last lady stand in point so your only job cuz I don't want to do it anyone who gets behind you be like sorry we're the last in line see these people here you're gonna have to break it to them all right here last lady's standing all right here we go welcome six hours later huh I thought is worth yeah yes there it is to the front so that's gonna be a pound right there as I go for it he's the best friend in the world cuz he got here in the morning you're not paying for anything are you yeah there you go I was pretty good at doing all the sides which is like potato salad the coleslaw the beans I made a few beef sandwiches I was getting good at that and then Franklin wanted me to cut some brisket I say do we got a pound of brisket to go so don't don't crawl your knuckles right there that's a half that's a half point four nine eight well let's throw it on there but get another slice in there anyway cuz I just ripped it yeah I would want to charge him for that we threw an extra pound in there for you but he's better you got a free pound out of it down cut the next month no he doesn't want me to yeah so I learned a lot and what main thing I learned is I can't cut brisket he's been doing this for you know ten years ago from his backyard and to where he is now what come on pork ribs so I think I need more than 24 hours to master that so what's the verdict we have good barbecue but nothing compared to like this we would people from North Carolina and they're going man I thought it was the main but on they're not the main you know it's another level and that's the roll I gotta say it's pretty cool when you come into a place and you see what you did you know on the wall and now I get to work here then you know little artistic flair somewhere beautiful is this your first Franklin barbecue which is better Franklin's brisket or your fingers he's doing pretty good he takes Direction well he really means it it's not just kind of like jumping into me like I'm gonna do this fast see later like he's really in there working like he's scrubbing the floors really like you know scooping the sides really just like listening to people really paying attention yeah feeling really good about him I think he did a great job I think I'd hire him actually you have never cleaned a floor until you've cleaned a floor with his brisket fat everywhere I wish I could go home and take a shower have a couple beers and watch ESPN but I got am still not halfway I'm Andrew Egremont nice to meet you I was just checking on these that we put on 10 o'clock this morning so it's just you Ben and me until like 1:00 o'clock it's really fun yeah they start by tipping all these up and just getting rid of all the greases on there yeah mister you're welcome to use it ragged yeah I think I'm gonna listen I keep my fingertips still this one here okay if it's a little bit cloudy on the inside on the fat yeah but I need to render a little bit further so that one needs to go a little bit further okay how long you been doing this six years six years you love it yeah it's pretty it's not gonna get a feel for it in 24 hours I'm gonna go in here with the apple cider vinegar you spray them down okay cool enormous surface temperature that's what I'm always doing stick your head in there real good if you can get in there and rake out this coal bed this hot right here yeah good that first about 40 or 50 yeah I can feel now you know you don't have to put your arm all the way in there you can use your shelving doubles your whole entire arm then lose all your arm rookie mistake great wrap your present I think it's upside-down why does it have grill marks on this hood that one was upside down shouldn't send a tweet out saying they'll get the pulled pork tomorrow I'm making sauce now like kind of think this is my punishment for maybe screwing up pork but I think another good so it's midnight 3/4 of the way through night went ok I think I screwed up some of the pork butts I kind of flicked them wrong I also ripped one of the bags that we wrapped the briskets in early and it was just like gushing with all that liquid gold all the juice I think bran was kind of pissed about that but this is also the time the night like when you got like six hours left when like you start feeling in your calves and your thighs that you've been on your feet basically for 18 hours all the espresso and all that adrenaline kind of runs out you just run it on fumes right on smoke as the case may be and I also realize I came and smell the smoke anymore for the first 12 hours I could kind of smell myself but now I can't smell anything see you guys getting out of here good X out with you tonight thanks man luckily I appreciate your patience a problem of fun it's 1:30 and you usually are alone like it's been years since someone else was here with them right give you food Terry Myerson oh we got a broken into one morning really couple of dudes just hoodies and singles reached over to try to grab the cash register I was eating some potato salad I just had something in my hands I threw it at him [ __ ] out of here he threw potato salad oh they still jokes when I heard Andrew was gonna be here for 24 hours in this environment with all the smoke and heat I kind of expected a few hours and he might change his mind certainly didn't expect him to still be here when I arrived this morning I was surprised that even though he was 20-something hours and at that point you're still ready to do it and load up the smoker with me it's not easy work so Andy just informed me that before your shifts over if there's an empty wood cart that it is polite to not leave the next guy hanging and fill one up so I got about two hours left and I'm gonna be a gentleman and fill a wood cart so you know Andy when I came in this morning you were kind of doing this yeah and this is 24 hours later a new days barbecue thanks Andy Thank You agent it's 6:00 a.m. I made it I just worked 24 hours at Franklin barbecue in Austin Texas one of the things that I'll take from this experience is not just amazing barbecue it's the really cool people who are passionate behind it and I think that's what makes the difference that's why Franklin barbecue is what it is best barbecue not in just in Texas not in America not in the world in the entire universe I'm gonna go take a shower and then try to figure out a way to get this smoke out of my clothes how many beers you have is this still on time yeah it is I only had two

Channel: Bon Appétit

Views: 5,912,344

Rating: 4.9159832 out of 5

Keywords: bbq, franklin bbq, austin tx bbq, barbecue, best bbq, best bbq restaurant, best barbecue, texas bbq, texas barbecue, 24 hours, bbq pit, working 24 hours, franklin barbecue, franklin's bbq, best bbq in the world, 24 hours at, 24 hours at franklin bbq, franklin bbq brisket, franklin brisket, franklin ribs, andew knowlton, andrew bon appetit, franklin bbq pulled pork, franklin bbq sauce, austin bbq franklin, franklin bbq austin, food, bon appetit

Id: vUDiEQBZL_8

Length: 12min 34sec (754 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 29 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/the_brobot]

Waited in line 3 hours to get some... sooooo worth it

[u/liarandathief]

It's not 9am yet, but I want BBQ right now

[u/dangleswaggles]

Man, use to watch his PBS show. I didn't know the dude went THAT hard to work 70+ hours.

[u/TriggerTX]

My birthday is next Tuesday. I always take the day off work. This year I'll be in line early at Franklin, drinking beer and hanging out. Not a bad way to spend a birthday.

[u/krebstar_2000]

Does Charlie know that The Waitress works there?

[u/AndaleMono]

I've never craved a meat coma before 8am. mouth waters

[u/bonerOn4thJuly]

How much are people paying for the briskets?

[u/TheyCallMeBrewKid]

Not everybody could pull this off. I don't think many people have done this kind of shift doing this kind of work. It definitely shows and builds character that this guy was able to see it through

[u/aManPerson]

wait, do they finish the brisket and then hold it in the butcher paper for like 6 hours? i'd guess a 14 hour cook from the video, which means they finished cooking around 11pm. then they were taken off and left in the butcher paper. so they let them cool for at least 11 hours? wow.